Back in the Day (Missy Elliott song)


"Back in the Day" is a 2003 hip-hop song by Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, featuring guest vocals from Jay-Z and Elliott protégé Tweet. The song appears on her 2002 album Under Construction and was at one time planned for release as a single. It peaked at #86 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart in 2003 before being scrapped as a single.

About the song

Produced by Elliott's main producer and longtime collaborator Timbaland, "Back in the Day" is an ode to the classic era of old school hip-hop, when the hip-hop culture was, Elliott sings, fun and peaceful, compared to the more violent scope of modern-day hip-hop. "Back in the day/hip-hop has changed", she sings. During the bridge of the song she even makes a point of referencing "Self-Destruction", a 1989 collaborative benefit single for peace featuring a number of that era's hip-hop stars. Incidentally, MC Lyte's verse from "Self-Destruction" is sampled on another of Under Construction's album tracks, "Funky Fresh Dressed".
Jay-Z contributes a rap verse in which he creatively references a number of hip-hop artists. At one point during his verse, Jay-Z raps "so fuck Chuck Phillips and Bill O'Reilly/if they try to stop hip-hop, we all gon' rally", a reference to two of hip-hop's most vocal critics.

"Back in the Day" references

Below is a list of old-school hip-hop people and items Elliott and Jay-Z namedrop in "Back in the Day":

Hip hop fashions